Have you considered a 10 star rating system or marks out of 100 ???

[Anonymous]

Andrew Everard:
I am confident we would be having 'why did this get 87% and that 92%?' discussions long into the future were we to adopt a percentage system.

If you had 10 categories with scores out of ten for each rewarding clearly different aspects of a tv's performance (maybe also a score for value for money), this would quite clearly, I think, indicate where the differences between sets lie and also justify the variation in scores given, such that readers would have a much better idea of the strengths and weaknesses of each, and it would also make sure that everything is properly covered in a unified style, rather than simply a star rating and a review, which may touch on some things in one review, but fail to do so on another.

Just my opinion and something I'm sure you've discussed already as it's not exactly a ground breaking idea.

 

[Anonymous]

As a gamer, I would read lots of reviews on certain games before I'd buy them. A rating system only goes so far. What makes one game 6/10 say and the other 8/10? Too much emphasis is put down to that number at the end of the review to the point where it's meaningless. 5 stars, it's a great product. 4 stars and below, doomed to oblivion. TVs are a major expense and so I put them under careful consideration.

Since TV's have now become a jack of all trades device, I would like to see the reviews broken up into various categories such as SD TV performance, HDTV (e.g. SkyHD, FreeSat) performance, Blu-ray (perhaps DVD or upscaled DVD but not as important), when attached to a PC (e.g. displaying photo slideshows, video playback etc), and performance when gaming.

Yes, there's lots on there that a lot of people won't use it for but at the moment when I'm trying to decide on a TV, I'm still none the wiser particularly when it comes to gaming.

 

[ukdavej]

Not wishing to start another heated exchange but I usually find that the WHF reviews address most of the issues in the actual review. How's the Blu Ray, what does SD look like, what are the black levels (although I still don't quite get that, black is black as far as my eyes are concerned I don't need to know that it's actually a deeper black than a blacky black thing). However, I think you may have a point about the performance of the added extras that now accompany most sets (PC,photos gaming mode) which would add some further information

Star ratings, percentages, marks out of 100 will always cause some controversy if thats your bag. Personally, the difference between 4 or 5 starts is neither here nor there I would only perhaps reconsider my choice if something were rated as 1 or 2 stars by our panel of esteemed experts. My current TV has never been reviewed by WHF (Panny 37 G10) although I think it's freeview sister has, but I bought it because I thought it had a good picture, had the bells and whistles I wanted and I have not looked back.

Reviews are really just a guide anyway and, although I do like to read the opinion of experts, their word isn't law!

Going back to what started all this, I have seen both a VT46 and a 903, IMHO the VT was absolutely outstanding whilst the 903 was stunningly fantastic - make of that what you will

 

[JoelSim]

I think you'll find that some blacks are actually grey in reality, rather than black. Hence the test comments.

Pure, 100% black is an aspiration.

 

[markyd]

I also think the ratings system should be reviewed.

A half star would effectively be like having a 10 point system - doubling the divisions which would be fairer and more representative of any subtle differences between reviews.

I also think that there should only ever be one 5 star product (or even a 5 GOLD star product) in each category / price division. Any previous 5 star system would have to be imediately reevaluated, refected in a reduction in it star rating (as done with the recent demotion of th Sony 760 Blu-ray),

It may mean that after a few years a previous high rated product has a low star rating, but if the technology has indeed improved by that much, it would be very helpful to have this indication.

 

[aliEnRIK]

JoelSim:
I think you'll find that some blacks are actually grey in reality, rather than black. Hence the test comments.

Pure, 100% black is an aspiration.

If we're going to be pedantic - EVERY tv only shows shades of grey as ive never seen a true 100% measured black result yet (though a few are very close, even if they cheated to get it)

 

[Anonymous]

I also think the ratings system should be reviewed and pleased to hear that it is being considered in WHF.

But surely what needs to happen first is to revise the Review process itself. When reviewing TV's for example (because that is what this forum is about) they are not all reviewd by the same person so comparisons are less meaningfull. And then the reviews themselves don't all consider the same issues. Remember we don't all watch TV just from HD sources let alone Freeview HD so a review of SD performance would be welcomed as well as off air HD and Bluray performance. Also a comparison of sound from different sources (music, talk, film etc) would be good as well as he obligitory performance of games and the number of sockets!

And when you are running the monthly shootout, it would be usful to bring back the previous category winner to show how things had changed over (sometimes) quite a short time period. Looking through the lists at the back of the mag showing 5* TVs that were out 2 years ago is a bit misleading don't you think?

The forums (other another site are available) are full of new buyers asking for advice on their first flat screen purchase and consistency in the reviews would be really welcomed by them, I'm sure. It certainly would have been useful for me before I made my first purchase.

Cheers.

 

[Anonymous]

Radnage49:And when you are running the monthly shootout, it would be usful to bring back the previous category winner to show how things had changed over (sometimes) quite a short time period. Looking through the lists at the back of the mag showing 5* TVs that were out 2 years ago is a bit misleading don't you think?

This is a very valid point, I would like to see this. Car magazines do this with car group test, bringing back the perceived class leader to see how they stack up to the new blood. Great point.

 

[Anonymous]

If a change in the reviewing system is too big a change to put into effect then atleast the reviews should be a little more detailed, especially when it comes to gaming. Gaming industry is now almost as big as the movie industry so gameing capabilities should be as important as blu ray and standard def quality of the particular tv.

Also input lag in regards to gaming is extremely important when purchasing a new tv but this gets no mention what so ever on What HiFi. For example in the review of the Sony 40HX803 it states that "Gamers, too, have nothing to fear from the Sony's picture - it's fast and responsive in all circumstances." That is such a vague comment to make..it tells nothing of input lag figures and how that input lag will have an impact on online gaming.

On another site which reviews a different tv, the HX503 it clearly states that input lag is measured to be 60ms and to be honest that is a very slow response time. It carries on to mention that input lag is
getting worse on the current generation of HDTVs, and to be honest that is a shame as online gaming requires rapid response or games such as MW2 can become very frustrating.

Does What HiFi have the technical equipment or ability to measure input lag on tv's?